Various battery receiving mechanisms provided in mobile or desktop electronic devices for example have been provided. The following section will describe the first conventional example and the second conventional example in which one end of a casing forming a battery receiving room has an opening section and this opening section is opened and closed by a rotatably-moving cover.
The first conventional example of a battery receiving mechanism is shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9. FIG. 7 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating when the cover of the battery receiving mechanism is closed in the first conventional example. FIG. 8 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating when the cover is being opened. FIG. 9 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating when the cover is opened. As shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, battery receiving room 2 for receiving battery 1 is formed in casing 10 and one end of casing 10 (upper end in the drawings) has opening section 11 at which electrode 1a of battery 1 is exposed. Opening section 11 can be opened and closed by cover 20. At an inner depth of battery receiving room 2, terminal 3 joined to electrode 1a of battery 1 is fixed to terminal 3.
Opening section 11-side of casing 10 has collar sections 12 and 13. Collar section 12 is continued to uneven section 14 that is fixed to body case 4. By uneven section 14, the surface of cover 20 when opening section 11 is closed is in the same plane as the surface of body case 4. Collar section 12 of casing 10 is connected to a base end section of cover 20 (right end of outer section 22 in FIG. 7) via hinge 30. Hinge 30 is obtained by connecting a washer (not shown) fixed to collar section 12 of casing 10 to a washer fixed to a back face of cover 20 by an axis and allows cover 20 to be rotatably moved.
Cover 20 is obtained by superposing inner section 21 having a base end section connected by hinge 30 with outer section 22 slid on inner section 21 so that the former and the latter cannot be separated from each other. When outer section 22 is slid in a direction along which outer section 22 is moved away from uneven section 14 of casing 10, a space is provided between the base end section of outer section 22 and uneven section 14 of casing 10. FIG. 8 illustrates when outer section 22 is slid in the left direction in the drawing and a space is provided between outer section 22 and uneven section 14. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, cover 20 can be rotated around hinge 30 to have a standing posture and can be opened. In FIG. 7, a tip end of outer section 22 has, in order to maintain the status where the cover is closed, hook 21 a locked to collar section 13 of casing 10. On the other hand, inner section 21 is fixed to terminal 23 that is joined, when the cover is closed, to electrode 1a of battery 1 in battery receiving room 2.
In the battery receiving mechanism as described above, when the cover is closed, hook 21 a provided at outer section 22 of cover 20 is locked to collar section 13 of casing 10, cover 20 maintains the lie-down posture, and terminal 3 and terminal 23 are securely abutted to electrode 1a of battery 1. In order to open the cover, outer section 22 of cover 20 is slid. Then, terminal 23 fixed to inner section 21 of cover 20 maintains the status where terminal 23 is abutted to electrode 1a of battery 1 and is prevented from being rubbed against electrode 1a of battery 1. Then, the base end section of outer section 22 is moved away from uneven section 14 of casing 10 to thereby provide a space therebetween. This allows cover 20 to have a standing posture and the cover can be opened.
Next, the second conventional example of the battery receiving mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. 10 to FIG. 12. However, the same parts as those of the first conventional example are denoted with the reference numerals and will be described further. FIG. 10 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating the battery receiving mechanism in the second conventional example when the cover is closed. FIG. 11 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating the battery receiving mechanism in the second conventional example when the cover is being opened. FIG. 12 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating the battery receiving mechanism in the second conventional example when the cover is opened.
As in the first conventional example, this battery receiving mechanism is also structured so that one end (an upper end section in the drawings) has casing 10 having opening section 11 and cover 40 that is used to open and close opening section 11 and that has a back face fixed to terminal 43. The battery receiving mechanism is also structured so that collar section 12 and the base end section of cover 40 provided at opening section 11-side of casing 10 are connected via hinge 50, thereby allowing the cover to be rotatably moved to have the lie-down posture and the standing posture.
Unlike the first conventional example, hinge 50 includes fixing section 52 having long hole 51 therein and shaft 53 moving within long hole 51. Fixing section 52 is fixed to collar section 12 of casing 10. Shaft 53 is fixed to the base end section of cover 40. Thus, cover 40 can be slid by a distance equal to the length of long hole 51. Both sides of the base end section of cover 40 have notch 41 to which fixing section 52 of hinge 50 is inserted. The tip end of cover 40 has hook 40a locked to collar section 13 of casing 10.
In the case of the battery receiving mechanism as described above, the cover-closed status is maintained, as shown in FIG. 10, when cover 40 is in the lie-down posture and hook 40a provided in cover 40 is locked to collar section 13 of casing 10 and each of terminals 43 is securely abutted to electrode 1a of battery 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, in order to open the cover, cover 40 is slid. At the same time, terminal 43 fixed to cover 40 is also slid while being rubbed against electrode 1a of battery 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the base end section of cover 40 is moved away from uneven section 14 of casing 10 to provide a space therebetween to thereby allow the cover 40 to have the standing posture and thus the cover can be opened. This second conventional example is superior to the first conventional example in that a stroke required to slide cover 40 is short. The reason of the short stroke is that, when the cover is opened, cover 40 is prevented from going over body case 4 and thus the stroke length can be determined, regardless of the thickness of body case 4, only based on the shape of cover 40 and the shape of hinge 50.
A battery retention apparatus having the same configuration as that of the first conventional example is disclosed in Patent Publication 1. A battery receiving room structure having the same configuration as that of the second conventional example is disclosed in Patent Publication 2.
In the case of battery receiving mechanism in the first conventional example, the cover is opened by sliding outer section 22 of cover 20. However, the space provided when the base end section of outer section 22 of cover 20 is moved away from uneven section 14 of casing 10 must be equal or longer than the thickness obtained by adding uneven section 14 of casing 10 to body case 4. Due to this, the sliding distance of outer section 22 of cover 20 is longer than that of the battery receiving mechanism in the second conventional example. Thus, it cannot be said that cover 20 can be opened and closed with good operability. Cover 20 is structured so that inner section 21 is connected to hinge 30 so as to allow cover 20 to be rotatably moved t have the lie-down posture and the standing posture. Thus, inner section 21 requires such a rigidity that prevents inner section 21 from being broken even when inner section 21 receives a load when the cover is opened or closed. So, inner section 21 is made of stainless steel for example. However, stainless steel is high-cost and thus a high cost is required for a battery receiving mechanism including stainless steel-made cover 20.
In the case of the battery receiving mechanism in the second conventional example on the other hand, when cover 40 is slid to open cover 40, terminal 43 fixed to cover 40 is slid while being rubbed against electrode 1a of battery 1. Although this design is superior n that cover 40 can have a simple structure, cover 40 cannot be smoothly slid because of the sliding friction resistance between terminal 43 and electrode 1a. In the case of a size AA battery on the other hand, BATTERY ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN recommends that a load of about 4.9 to 9.8 N is preferred as a force to press an electrode by a terminal per one battery. When four or more size AA batteries as described above are used, the above sliding friction resistance is excessively-high and thus a remarkably-high force is required to slide cover 40.
[Patent Publication 1] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2000-133963
[Patent Publication 2] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2006-344537